Disneyland Paris (DLP) Discussion Thread

[KarlaKoaster]

I went to Disneyland Paris last year and hand on heart I had an amazing four days there. It was one of the best theme park visits I've had in a long time. I've had some bad visits there before, but the service was good, the Studios park has far, far, FAR improved and although some parts of the park looked worn, they were just getting their teeth into the refurbishment programme. Obviously it falls short of the standards I expect from Disney, though, so fingers crossed they can tidy the place up. I stayed at Newport Bay Club Hotel and they were renovating that, and although I was in the old part, it was still spotless inside. I hope the resort is turning a corner; the signs are promising, especially with the work going on in Frontierland.

I don't remember seeing this colour combination on any of Disney's Small World facades!

Usually, it's the white and gold trimmed version. Then, more colours are added with

lighting and mapping effects during the holiday season. This looks interesting.

DLP's has always had a colourful exterior with lots of pastel colours, but I'm really looking forward to see the new colourscheme

[Nrthwnd]

^ That shows how much I (don't) seek out IAsW on my past visits, lol.

What we saw of IAsW in the Dumbo queue. Sept.21,1015.

[Morgan]

Regarding the service and friendliness of the cast members across the resort, I can definitely say that it has vastly improved.

 

We visited in 2012 and the cast members were generally unwelcoming, they weren't rude, but they definitely weren't cheerful and talkative and basically interacted with you on a minimal level. Our visit in June this year was completely different, every member of staff we met was happy and generally went out of their way to make you feel welcome. The only slight area of improvement that is needed is in the counter service restaurants, where generally service was a bit slow and some of the staff didn't seem in too much of a hurry.

 

If it wasn't for all the rehabs, we would've definitely been going back next year, but we'll be waiting for the scheduled closures to clear up before making our return.

[DirkFunk]

I never once had an issue with cast members in my visits there. I also try to initiate contact in French, so probably that helps a little.

[BDG]

An article about Autopia's hybrid cars...

 

 

tl;dr

 

- since 2010 they have been updating the Autopia cars to hybrids

- 50% less fuel consumption, less noise, less emissions

- the cars can now be started in the morning by pressing a button (the old ones had to be started like a lawnmower)

- the vehicles are now equipped with anti-collision sensors

 

In 2010 we started a wide conversion campaign of our Autopia attraction. To date, 58 vehicles out of the 85 that make up the Autopia fleet are now equipped with a hybrid system, which means the batteries are accompanied by a small combustion engine. At a pace of 4 new vehicles per month, the teams of Christophe Martin, Manager Maintenance Rolling Vehicles, are on the verge of wrapping up this ambitious project. It has already helped improve the environment, as well as the safety and work conditions of the Cast Members on the attraction.

 

 

 

50% savings of both fuel and CO2 emissions: a first satisfactory result! When dealing with a fleet of 66 vehicles that run various hundreds of kilometers each day, 365 days a year, the shift to a hybrid system has a significant impact. Christophe Martin, who has been supervising this project since 2013, says that this does not prevent the attraction from impressing users with the noise of a traditional motor, something very important for the show. “On Autopia, the child’s dream of driving ‘daddy’s car’ is a reality. The noise of the motor is part of its charm and its success. That’s why we didn’t go 100% electric. It would actually have created great autonomy problems with batteries that need to be constantly recharged. Following the changes we made, the combustion engine recharges the batteries all by itself.”

 

Nevertheless, guests and Cast Members can feel the consequences of these new motors as soon as they reach the station, when the car shifts automatically into the electric mode through sensors placed in the ground. Noise pollution is greatly reduced, as are the gas emissions. The vehicles automatically slow down and the Cast Members can stop them and start them up by simply pressing on a button. “This is going to change their lives”, Christophe says with a smile. “Before, we had to start the engines every morning like lawn mowers, by pulling the cable a number of times. Now, we simply control everything with push buttons.” These buttons and a new motor were carefully integrated in the existing body works of the vehicles, and were modified together with the Walt Disney Paris Imagineering teams.

 

 

 

Naturally, one innovation brings in another one, and the vehicles are now equipped with anti-collision sensors. They allow avoiding any collision in the loading and unloading stations. In the long term this system will be extended throughout the circuit, in order to guarantee a smooth drive for everyone and a better experience. To ensure the project is truly perfect, the maintenance teams –that is 2 and 4 persons each day who are permanently active –took advantage of the time during which the vehicles were at a standstill to completely renew them, from the frame of the vehicle to the paint and the mechanics.

 

 

 

“We aimed for an attraction that would be both strongly themed and rooted in its history, in a retro-futurist style, while the technical innovations would meet current expectations and contribute to our guests’ quality experience. Simultaneously, we improve or Cast Members’ work conditions”, Christophe, who clearly aims for the future and for new ideas, goes on. “We have set the basis for a much more flexible attraction by creating solutions which are now accessible to the other Disney parks. It is now possible to imagine that in a near future our guests with reduced mobility without being accompanied, or guests with a sight disability, will pilot a vehicle with the buttons located next to the steering wheel. Why not? We are thinking about it.”

 

 

 

source: Disneyland Paris

Edited November 12, 2015 by BDG

[COASTER FREAK 11]

I don't understand why they didn't do electric vehicles instead. especially because Hong Kong already had Electric ones, they would have little to do but build more. Only reason I can think of is because they are reusing their current ones instead of buying new ones.

[Nrthwnd]

In this shot I took at the park on Sept.24, you can see the lower blue car has those two start buttons,

one on either side. But the two cars in front of it, do not, from what I can make out. So it does

look like they were using the old cars, as well as the new ones, when we were there.

Blue car has buttons; yellow and black cars do not....yet. And that yellow car

way up there in the left lane, appears to have the buttons, too.

[KingRCT3]

^ He said 70% of the vehicles are hybrids so far, so not all of them yet. There are seven people working on it, and with 85 vehicles, it's a lot to do!

 

^^ They are re-building the old one nearly from scratch. They kept a smaller combustion engine to keep the typical noise, but also to recharge the batteries.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

^That seems like a silly reason to keep a combustion engine, just for a noise it makes and not go full electric. Especially when a speaker in the car can make the same noise. It must be substantially cheaper then going full electric.

[KingRCT3]

I think the noise is just a silly argument, the real deal is that it helps refill the batteries. Otherwise I don't know how they could deal with 100% electric vehicle without having an electrified rail all along? I don't know, how does that work in Hong Kong?

[COASTER FREAK 11]

^There is a charger plate in the station. The car charges between each loop around the track. And it starts charging immediately when it enters the station. So, if you sat out on the track long enough, the car will die.

 

You can see it in this video, as the car is going through the station.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk7cBHHmL3o

[BDG]

Christmas Parade:

 

 

 

From another location:

 

 

 

Tree lighting ceremony:

 

[BDG]

Article about the cleaning of the "Rivers of the Far West":

 

RIVERS OF THE FAR WEST: THE TIME FOR SPRING CLEANING

 

 

The level at Rivers of the Far West, the largest body of water in the Disneyland Park, has been slowly receding since 2 November. This has nothing to do with a draught or global warming. It is simply because the lake is being fully drained for the first time since the opening of Disneyland® Paris. This thorough clean-up will also benefit Big Thunder Mountain and Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing, two attractions currently closed for renovation. Marilya Chatzistamatiou, our Technical Environment Expert, explains the challenges and the implementation of this project.

 

 

 

“For nearly five years now we have been studying, together with the environment teams, the possibility of an in-depth cleaning of the lake. Over the last 23 years, the sediments and algae have proliferated and this over time can ultimately produce an eutrophic lake [a shallow body of water that has an excessive concentration of plant nutrients causing algae blooms that may in the long term be more or less toxic to fish, animals and humans]. Given the lack of transparency, it was also increasingly difficult to ensure the proper maintenance of the water around and under Riverboat Landing. But now, the major refurbishment of Big Thunder Mountain offers us the perfect opportunity to completely drain out the lake”, Marilya – a confirmed water engineer and an environment expert at Disneyland Paris – confides.

 

 

 

Rivers of the Far West was filled with drinking water until now. It first underwent a two-month long night dredging in order to clean the bottom of the basin from the impressive amount of mud and waste accumulated over the years. The water is receding progressively and it will take at last 3 weeks. Mid-way through the process and for two days, the Fédération de Seine-et-Marne pour la pêche et la protection du milieu aquatique (Seine-et-Marne Federation for fishing and protection of the aquatic environment) will supervise an electric fishing operation to remove all the fish which will be placed in other basins throughout our destination, whether in the lagoon at Adventureland, Lake Disney or the water bodies at Golf Disneyland. The final phase of the dredging operation will include the in-depth cleaning of the bottom of the lake by special vehicles. The teams will take the opportunity to check the water tightness of the basin and piping systems around. During this phase the large construction machines needed for the refurbishment of Big Thunder Mountain will also go through the empty rivers to check the equipment at Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing as well.

 

 

 

“Nearly 800 m3 of water will be stored in our water treatment plant, and 42 500 m3 will be poured into retention basin n°4 of the municipality of Chessy right next to our destination, to which of course the SAN of Val d’Europe has already agreed”, Marilya points out. “When we fill up the lake again the drinking water will be combined with the treated and purified water, which is more environmentally friendly”.

 

Water will be poured into Rivers of the Far West again in June 2016, while the two attractions will only reopen at the end of the same year. They will be completely renovated, much to our guests’ pleasure. We will be looking into all the technical challenges this will represent in our next articles on Disneyland Paris News. Don’t forget to check it out regularly!

 

 

source: Disneyland Paris

[StealthFan]

I dont even want to think of the disgusting state the bottom of the lake was in. Im sure once the construction vehicles come in the whole area will look like it did all those years ago when the ride was being built.

[Nrthwnd]

I'm glad we visited the resort when we did, in September. But even back then, there was no water traffic happening in the Rivers of the Far West.

The Molly Brown stayed at the loading dock our entire visit, while the Mark Twain we assumed was in 'drydock' in the back. They were probably

checking the waterway back then, for the eventual draining and cleanup, we guessed.

Thar she sits! Molly Brown stayed tied up to the loading dock, all the time we were there at the Resort.

Taken Sept.24, 2015.

[Garet]

The park will be closed tomorrow due to the Paris terrorist attacks according to the bbc live updates

[ItsMe]

Disney made their official announcement on their website, stating that out of respect the parks will be closed today. No information about tomorrow. France PM Hollande announced three national days of mourning, so it might be possible the parks will be closed longer. If that happens there will be some financial damage. However I have great respect for the keeping the parks closed today.

 

Village will be open today, however I've heard that some people are being adviced to stick to their hotel today.

[Garet]

Yea sorry ahold have been more clear I got my timezones a bit mixed up

[ItsMe]

Did not mean to correct you, just want to ad some details.

[ItsMe]

Hotelguest received an invitation for free lunch and diner today in their hotels.

[JordyC]

[robbalvey]

Someone on Facebook posted that the parks will also be closed tomorrow. Any confirmation of this?

[robbalvey]

One of our followers on social media have sent us these pics from Disneyland Paris this morning...

[viking86]

Very eerie seeing the pictures from the gates at DLP, what should have been a happy place full of people.

[Philrad71]

Very sad day...my thoughts are with all of the good people of France as they mourn this horrific tragedy.